RUTH HAS IT ALL!

I'm having a harder time than usual collecting my thoughts and putting them into print. Partly, it is because I want to say again, in different ways, something I've said more than a couple of times already, including recently. Yet I want to say it again, specifically in the context of Shavuot. Please be patient if someof it sounds familiar. Some will be new (from me, at least). And I believe that the main points are fairly important and frustratingly ignored by many. So here goes...

As soon as G-d took us out of Egypt, the clock started ticking - we started counting - towards the major purpose of our existence. "And I will take you out...", "And I will save you...", "And I will redeem you..." have been fulfilled, and the next "Term of Redemption", the fourth term, "And I will take you unto Me as aNation, and I will be your G-d..." becomes our main - our only - agenda item. Splitting of the Sea and other miracles, seven-week preparatory period, previews of some mitzvot at Refidim, and then we are at Sinai for the final preparations for Matan Torah. G-d's prophecy to Moshe at the Burning Bush, the sequence of BarleyOffering - Counting of the Omer - Two Loaves Offering, the name ATZERET for Shavuot - the name Shavuot for Shavuot! - its being one day only - all these things and more, point to the connection between our coming out of Egypt and being given the Torah. Shavuot is Z'man Matan Torateinu, and it is also Zeicher LiTzi'at Mitzrayim.

Torah was the first part of G-d's post-Exodus plans for us. We were supposed to take the Torah we received at Sinai, learn how to live a Torah life, and do it in Eretz Yisrael. This too was part of the original plan of taking us out of Egypt. The fifth Term of Redemption is, "And I will bring you... give to you..."

If we associate Shavuot with Torah, we also associate Shavuot with Eretz Yisrael, with the mitzvot of E. Yisrael. Shavuot is Chag HaKatzir, the Festival of the Reaping. Shavuot is Yom HaBikurim, the beginning of the Bikurim bringing season. The one bringing Bikurim joyfully declares that G-d took us out of Egypt and broughtus to Eretz Yisrael.

That Shavuot is the other end of Pesach is obvious. But we have to remember that the Shavuot end of Y'tzi'at Mitzrayim is Matan Torah AND entrance into Eretz Yisrael.

The reading of Megilat Ruth serves as a perfect focus for the two themes of Shavuot - Torah & Eretz Yisrael.

Ruth is a prime model of an individual who made a completely sincere commitment to G-d, Torah, and a Torah Life. When we think of Matan Torah at Sinai, we tend to see Klal Yisrael rather than the many individuals who make up the nation. Kabbalat HaTorah was an act of the whole nation, but for it to be real in our lives,the commitment has to be personal and individual. In this way, the reading of Megilat Ruth complements the Torah reading beautifully. The Megila is very clear as to the venue of the story and its significance. It was a famine in Eretz Yisrael and their communal responsibilities which drove Naomi's husband and sons to leavethe Land. They were punished for leaving the Land. Naomi and Ruth were rewarded for returning to it. Repeated reference is made to mitzvot of the Land.

The connections between David HaMelech and Shavuot, David HaMelech and Jerusalem, David HaMelech and Torah, David HaMelech and Ruth make this megila the perfect reading and the perfect reminder of the full meaning of Shavuot. Eretz Yisrael without Torah is like a body without a soul. But this soul needs its body too. Torahwas meant to be lived in Eretz Yisrael. With a Beit HaMikdash. With the majority of Bnei Yisrael here. Shavuot helps us focus on our goals.

Megilat Ruth - the "baby" of Tanach

It's 85 p'sukim is the least of all books, accounting for less than 0.4% of the p'sukim in Tanach. (Contast this with T'hilim, with 10.9% of the p'sukim in Tanach.)

Its 4947 letters are also the least in Tanach, but its 1294 words are more than Shir HaShirim. Ruth's p'sukim average about 50% longer than Shir HaShirim's.

Of the 85 P'sukim in Megilat Ruth, all but 8 begin with the letter VAV. That's 90.5% of its p'sukim begin with a VAV.